After going undefeated for more than seven years, Manny Pacquiao finally suffered a loss on Saturday night.
However, according to seemingly everyone who watched the bout except two of the judges that mattered, “Pac-Man” deserved to walk away from his bout against Timothy Bradley with a lopsided decision victory.
Most major media outlets gave Pacquiao a significant edge on the scorecards following the 12-round fight.
For example, FoxSports.com estimated a 119-100 score in Pacquiao’s favor. Nonetheless, when the official scorecards were read, two 115-113 decisions were announced in Bradley’s favor, making him the new WBO welterweight champion.
As was to be expected, the sports world exploded in an outrage over the result. Some of the loudest cries came from the MMA community, which has seen its fair share of poor decisions over recent years.
One of Bleacher Report’s own, Lead MMA Writer Jonathan Snowden, was one of the first to react following the historic upset. His initial take on the decision was about the same as everyone else’s who was prepared to hear Pacquiao named the winner.
What the what?
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) June 10, 2012
Never known as a tight-lipped personality, newly signed Bellator light heavyweight Muhammed Lawal’s reaction was a tad more direct.
Hell No!!!!!!!
— King Mo (@KingMoFH) June 10, 2012
After some time passed, reality began to sink in that this decision wasn’t some mathematical mistake, such as the one MMA fans saw earlier this year when Demetrious Johnson was named the winner of a bout against Ian McCall that had actually been scored a draw. The judges had, as crazy as it seemed, named Bradley the winner of a fight he had fairly clearly lost.
This is around the time Bleacher Report writer Matt Roth came across this distraught Pacquiao fan.
From the looks of it this guy bet big on Manny. twitter.com/MattRoth512/st…
— Matthew Roth (@MattRoth512) June 10, 2012
Admittedly, I’m no boxing historian. I write exclusively about MMA for a reason, so I’m not going to make any assumptions about this decision and where it stands among the all-time worst decision in the history of the sport, but that doesn’t mean other MMA fighters didn’t take things that far.
Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix champion Daniel Cormier proclaimed he has never seen worse judging.
That’s actually tragic. He won that fight. Man I know we complain about mma judging but my goodness. Worst decision I’ve ever seen.
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) June 10, 2012
Former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard agreed.
This is been the biggest robbery in history boxing. That’s why boxing is not going to go anywhere..
— Hector Lombard (@HectorLombard) June 10, 2012
Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey went as far as saying that she’d consider never watching boxing again due to the inexplicable decision.
Dude after that bs …. Not sure I’ll ever pay to watch boxing again, just so blatantly wrong I’m repulsed
— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) June 10, 2012
Later on in the night, UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub was on the same page as Rousey.
Lol late but watched Pacman fight…is that for real??! Makes me not want to watch boxing anymore..unbelievable
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) June 10, 2012
An avid boxing fan, UFC president Dana White decided to aim his anger directly at the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), an organization with which his company works frequently. Despite his business relationship the the NSAC, White didn’t mince words in his reaction to the outcome of the Pacquiao-Bradley bout.
Nevada state athletic commission at its finest!!! Youve for to be fucking kidding me!! that is disgusting Nevada state athletic commission!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) June 10, 2012
Oh, yeah. Currently suspended and retired welterweight contender Nick Diaz provided another gem without putting forth much effort.
??
— nick diaz (@nickdiaz209) June 10, 2012
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